Approval helps clear way for reactors’ construction

A Maryland agency has given a key approval to a deal between two companies that hope to build an Areva-designed nuclear reactor.

The approval lets Electricite de France buy about half of Constellation Energy Group’s nuclear business, seen as an important step in the two companies’ plans to build new nuclear reactors.

The two companies partnered two years ago to form UniStar Nuclear Energy, a joint venture. UniStar has been working to promote the construction of Evolutionary Power Reactors in the U.S.

Areva NP Inc. employees in Lynchburg perform much of the design work needed for potential U.S. EPR sites. UniStar has proposed building an EPR at Constellation’s Calvert Cliffs power plant in Maryland.

EdF’s purchase of a stake of Constellation’s nuclear business originated in the fall of 2008 when investors worried that Constellation could go bankrupt.

The Maryland Public Service Commission said in a decision that Constellation had a “near-death experience.” MidAmerican Energy Holdings tried to buy all of Constellation, but EdF offered to buy 49.9 percent of Constellation’s nuclear business for $4.5 billion, with $1 billion paid immediately. Constellation shareholders opted for the deal with EdF.

An agency in New York, where Constellation owns three nuclear reactors, approved the deal earlier this year.

The Maryland Public Service Commission approved the deal Friday. That is the last approval needed for the purchase.

A statement released Monday by Constellation said, “We are now moving to close the transaction as quickly as possible so that we can begin to deliver the many benefits of this investment to all stakeholders across the state.”

Constellation officials did not return phone calls Monday.

The company still has not made a final decision to build an EPR at the Calvert Cliffs site. It is waiting for more regulatory approvals, officials said earlier this year.